186 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



against the roof of the same passage. Unless the knees can be suffi- 

 ciently straightened by force a knife must be used to cut across the 

 cords behind the knee, when the limbs may be straightened suffi- 

 ciently. 



Fore limbs flexed at knee — Flexor tendons unshortened. — This is 

 mostly seen in cases in which the body of the calf is in the proper 

 position, its back being turned up toward the back of the dam, and in 

 coAvs with a drooping abdomen. The feet have been supposed to 

 catch beneath the brim of the pelvis, and being retarded while the 

 head advances into the passages, they get bent at the knee and the 

 nose and knees present. (PL XVI, fig. 2.) The calf, however, is not 

 an inanimate body advanced by the mere contraction of the womb, 

 but it moves its limbs freely under the stimulus of the unwonted com- 

 pression, and in moving the feet as they are advanced they slip down 

 over the pelvic brim and finding no other firm support they bend 

 back until, under the impulsion, they can no longer straighten out 

 again. The knees, therefore, advance with the neck and head, but the 

 feet remain bent back. The result is that the upper part of the limb 

 is also flexed, and the shoulder blade and arm bone with their masses 

 of investing muscles are carried backward and applied on the side of 

 the chest, greatly increasing the bulk of this already bulky part. As 

 the elbow is carried back on the side of the chest, the forearm from 

 elbow to knee further increases the superadded masses of the shoulder 

 and renders it difficult or impossible to drag the mass through the 

 passages. When the fore limbs are fully extended, on the contrarv, 

 the shoulder blade. is extended forward on the smallest and narrowest 

 part of the chest, the arm bone with its muscles is in great part ap- 

 plied against the side of the back part of the neck, and the forearm is 

 continued forward by the side of the head so that the nose lies be- 

 tween the knees. In this natural presentation the presenting body 

 of the calf forms a long wedge or cone, the increase of which is slow 

 and gradual until it reaches the middle of the chest. 



The difficulty of extending the fore limbs will be in proportion to 

 the advance of the head through the pelvic cavity. In the early stage 

 all that is necessary may be to introduce the oiled hand, the left one 

 for the right leg or the right one for the left, and passing the hand 

 from the knee on to the foot to seize the foot in the palm, bend it 

 forcibly on the fetlock, and lift it up over the brim of the pelvis, the 

 knee being, of course, pressed upward against the spine. As soon as 

 the foot has been raised above the brim of the pelvis (into the pas- 

 sage) the limb can be straightened out with the greatest ease. 



When, however, the shoulders are already engaging in the pelvis 

 the feet can not thus be lifted up, and to gain room a repeller (PI. 

 XX, fig. 7) must be used to push back the body of the calf. This is 



